Facing the Empire
by Son Goshen
Summary: Sequel to NotWhatitSeems. Battle with the Cold Empire continues as more obstacles occur, including tracking down a very cunning ruler. Gohan's sanity slowly declines from the absence of Videl, Bardock is now out of the picture, and what's this about Goku? DISCONTINUED
1. Defeated

**It's finally here! Welcome to chapter one of the sequel to Not What it Seems, Facing the Empire! Thanks to Simgr101 for always helping me out, especially this time with the future planning and all that. :) Enjoy~**

Frieza did drop Bardock. He blinked once, then again, and rubbed his eyes in bewilderment. Indeed, it does look as if the tyrant had his awkward moments. He muttered gibberish under his breath that not even Jr.'s sharp ears could pick up.

Jr. signaled with his finger for his men to depart and return to the ship, which they obliged willingly.

Frieza regained his posture soon enough. "You're that little brat I saw on the TV in HFIL!" he said.

Silence.

Prince Vegeta Jr. wasn't sure if he had heard that sentence correctly. Wasn't HFIL a place for eternal damnation and endless torture and fire? Now, how does a television fit into this image, with the fact that Frieza was watching it? He wasn't too sure.

"Well, television or not, you're going down, freak," he replied. When said tyrant's face turned into an ugly shade of puce, he decided that Frieza definitely needed some anger management classes. He acted just like a brat, due to always having thousands of people bowing down to him ever since he was born.

Game on. He smirking as Frieza charged at him with fury in his crimson eyes. Jr. found that he was able to dodge the tyrant's moves even in this state, and was glad for that.

He attempted another hook kick and the saiyan, who retaliated by grabbing onto the ankle, bent down, and twisted. Jr. grinned even more. So this was the almighty Frieza? Ha! His fighting patterns were so predictable he was sure he could fight with his eyes closed!

Frieza back flipped and landed on the rubble. He wore a mask of annoyance. "Interesting, kid. Not bad for a youngster. But I haven't even started!" he said, and let out a war cry. Translucent white aura surrounded him as his power level skyrocketed like he had in the fight with Bardock.

The tyrant grinned, expecting to see a look of fear or something similar upon his opponent's face. But no, Jr. began laughing.

"HAHAHAHA! That's it?" he choked out, gasping for air, "Goodness me! After all those tales I heard from you! HAHAHAHA You're nothing compared to me!"

Frieza's left eye twitched. What's with these monkeys and their huge egos? But he didn't move and began to watch as Vegeta Jr.'s ki also began to rise.

Vegeta Jr's aura became gold, and his appearance changed into that of a super saiyan. Frieza laughed inwardly as he thought that that was all he could do. Bardock was able to do that, but had he defeated him? No!

That wasn't it. There was a huge explosion, nearly sending the tyrant flying from the force. Smoke rose up into the air, clouding his view. He presumed that this had to be some sort of trick, and he'll be taken off guard.

Nope.

The smoke cleared, and Vegeta Jr. was standing there with electric sparks dancing around his aura. He had immediately jumped to the super saiyan two transformation.

Frieza's mouth dropped open. There… there was a second stage to that legendary transformation? What an outrage! He knew that he was completely outmatched now, by the feeling of the ki of Jr.

So, been the coward he is, he decided to flee.

"No you don't," Jr. muttered and fazed right in front of the tyrant, making him skid to a halt in mid air. He grinned once more when he saw the fear in Frieza's eyes.

Just what he though. Frieza, the feared tyrant throughout the entire galaxy, was nothing but a cowardly little white alien. He sent a punch to his face and heard a satisfying crack. Blood poured out Frieza's nose as he howled in pain, trying to stem the blood flow.

"C'mon, I was hoping for a challenge!" Jr. taunted. He wasn't too sure if it would work, but it always did before, so why not now?

The tyrant screamed in rage and rushed at him again. But been too blinded by rage, his attacks were always off target by several inches, which made Jr.'s work much easier. And the pattern became more predictable than ever. Hook kick, punch to the face, knee strike upwards, leg sweep, repeat.

Bardock watched with interest at the young saiyan's skill. Such power, he mused, they're just getting more powerful by every generation. He winced as he got on his feet, the shattered arm still hurting like HFIL. He clutched it painfully and shot a glance at Mirai. He was still unconscious, but he could tell the teen was starting to stir from the fluttering of the eyelashes and the twitching finger. Suddenly, he sat up bolt right and turned to Jr. and Frieza It would be best to leave the two to battle that lizard. Time for him to get healed and be off... And with that, Bardock sped away with a burst of aura, quick and silent as a shadow. No one noticed.

The battle continued as Jr. lashed out viciously at Frieza. The tyrant was noticeably faltering in all aspects, speed, strength, and skill.

He emitted a high-pitched scream when Vegeta Jr. punched him hard in the stomach and coughed up blood. Suddenly, he took a few steps backwards, leaving Frieza to be kneeling on the rubble.

In the piece of broken glass on the ground, Frieza saw in fear that Mirai was directly behind him, in super saiyan mode with his sword unsheathed and raised, wearing a determined expression and very much awake now. The demi-saiyan slashed downwards.

The same event that happened ten years ago was replaying. Frieza had a horrified expression on his face as that happened, and Mirai continued to slash as the tyrant was reduced into blocks of flesh. "HA!" Mirai yelled and let out a bright yellow ki blast with his free hand, completely disintegrating him.

"Woohoo!" Jr. cheered as he watched. The demi-saiyan, however, ignored him coldly and turned around to walk back to Bardock.

But, said saiyan was strangely missing from his previous resting place. All that was left were a few shards of his broken armor and a large blood stain.

"Where did he go?" Mirai said in bewilderment. He was sure that the man was just there awhile ago.

"I think he left while I was fighting Frieza," Jr. replied and shrugged. "But your sword attack was awesome! I want to do that some time!"

Mirai raised an eyebrow at Jr.'s excited expression. "Sure, if you ever get one, I'll teach you," he said. Maybe this was how Jr. was always like. So very different than his dad, though they shared the same name.

And somewhere far away but still on Planet Zorrei, the third, youngest demi-saiyan was battling his enemy…

***claps* It's done! Right, I'm pretty happy with myself. It took four days to write, because I'd write a sentence then left it there because I can't continue it, but now my writing muse is back… ^^ So, as always, reviews will be greatly appreciated.**

**(DBZ Trivia will be taken out from now as I'm dead tired of them.)**


	2. Done

**Chapter is split into three parts. :D Hope you enjoy it!**

Only he could kill Cell, and that certainly wasn't a good thought. To be honest, Gohan was very frightened. What if he caused someone to die this time, too… and he wanted to tear up again. The memory of his father's fruitless sacrifice ran through his mind, as with the death of Videl.

A single crystal tear ran down his cheek as he flew across Planet Zorrei toward the monster Cell.

Sad music began playing in the background, the lyrics frightening him.

"_When the cold of winter comes, starless night will cover day, in the veiling of the sun, we will walk in bitter rain._"

Then Gohan shook his head and laughed at himself. There was no background music in life, and that particular song, The Breaking of the Fellowship In Dreams had played from the house below. He saw a girl who was no more than thirteen sitting on the balcony, looking into the distance as tears spilled downwards. He wondered if she felt just as worried as he was. She lifted up the ocarina she held in her hands and began to play along, evoking even more sorrow from his heart. The wind blew gently, ruffling her wavy brown locks.

He stopped in midway to listen.

The music echoed through the entire place, giving him an eerily peaceful feeling. Strangely, the ocarina began to glow a soft gold.

And wind blew harder all of a sudden, and the house and the girl dissipated like sand, completely vanishing from sight like a vision.

What?

Gohan looked around curiously. There was no one in sight, and where the house had been was empty. There was no trace left, at least none that he saw. Was it some kind of trick of his eye?

But then, a feminine voice echoed through the area. "_Face your destiny, young hero, save the universe._" Somehow, he knew it was the girl, even though he clearly never heard her speak.

Who was she? Yet the words were true, it was time to face that android. Or not.

He spotted Cell in the distance. Honestly, a big green spot isn't hard to pick out from all the grey and black, especially with his vision and perception. And to signify his presence, he fired a small blast at the android.

Their eyes met and simultaneously took a fighting stance. No words were needed. Time to fight. They charged at each other, one thirsting for revenge, the other filled with determination to save the planet.

And so, fists flew and tremors rocked the earth from the huge magnitude of power as the warriors moved so fast they were no more than a faint blur to the human eye.

~DBZ~

A vision… Bardock rubbed his temples as it began…

_Something was wrong. Very very wrong._

_The air buzzed with … something. He growled in frustration. All he could make out was that something very bad was about to happen, yet what? It had to be something that will cause a huge magnitude of destruction to set his sixth sense in such panic._

_Why this feeling?_

_And the location changed. He saw a white hand, poised in a claw, and a small ki blast began forming. It was clearly outer space, and the ki blast was directed at-_

_Oh no._

_It was pointed at Planet Zorrei. _

_He watched with horror as the ki blast increased in size, getting bigger and bigger by the passing moment. And it was released._

_In one split second, the ki blast sank into the planet like a spoon into jelly, and in a bright flash of light it was destroyed. He fought to keep his eyes open as he stared at the carnage. _

_And all that was left were tiny pieces of rubble floating._

_No… no… And he saw a speck in the distance… what looked like a ship… but he saw that there was a small symbol engraved on it. And it was the sign of the saiyan royal family, the red arrow like emblem that he always saw on the right top corner of the royal armor. Does that mean everyone else will die..?_

The vision ended.

One thought crossed his mind. Shit…

~DBZ~

Meanwhile, a certain tyrant's brother hovered by the entrance to Dr. Hatchi's secret lab. Cooler smirked as he entered it silently, feet a few inches off the ground.

"Hello, good doctor," he said pleasantly, scaring the mad scientist out of his wits as he was focused on some kind of experiment.

Dr. Hatchi turned around and spat, "What do you want?" Then he took a breath, steadied himself, and added, "I meant, you're welcome here but refrain from scaring me in such methods in the future."

"I want to kill you."

"What?" His cry of outrage echoed in the dark lab. "You can't kill me. I'll shut off the machine." And his fingers hovered over the one button that will transport all the villains back into HFIL.

Cooler chuckled, knowing it was just a bluff. "I'm not afraid." With that, he raised his hand and fired a blast at the doctor's head. It flew across the room and landed with a loud PLUNK. He raised his eyebrows as he saw that Dr. Hatchi had wires in his body. He's an android…? Well, it didn't matter anymore.

"Now… time for this thing to be gone," he muttered to himself and turned toward the machine.

After a few ki blasts launched at there, there was a simple POOF!

That's it, a poof. Cooler watched as his figure flickered in and out of existence in the living world, and then stopped altogether. The machine once again went POOF and disappeared like some fairy device.

But he was still here, wasn't he? So, Cooler's plan had worked out after all. Time for payback to the little band of Earthling warriors and to the saiyans…

**So we draw to another end… and the plot thickens. :D Reviews will be very much appreciated! Thanks for reading once again.**

**~Goshen**


	3. Farewell

**Shoot… it's been a long time. Well, I'm back. This chapter's rather interesting.**

…

Bardock tapped his scouter screen and growled in frustration when it started lagging. They needed to get out of this planet AND save all the citizens very soon. In his mind, a clock appeared, ticking away from fifteen minutes.

Fifteen minutes were all they had.

"C'mon, c'mon…" he muttered. "Aha!" The green scouter beeped, instantly making all the connections he wanted.

"I need all of you to listen up right now! Run away from whatever fight you're in, I don't care if that hurts your pride or it'll cause damage because something's going to happen that all those won't matter!" he barked.

Immediately, all the Z fighters were alarmed. They weren't engaged in any battles, all except one. Replies quickly came.

"Alright, the planet's going to blow in less than fifteen minutes." Gasps, squeaks, noises of disbelief, and other surprised noises were heard, but Bardock wasn't in the mood to listen.

"Just shut up, all of you! I need you to gather up the citizens AS FAST AS YOU CAN and meet up by the saiyan spaceship," he said. The people of Planet Zorrei had to fit in there. He didn't want to sound like some coldblooded bastard, but the population had completely decimated into miniscule numbers from the attack.

As soon as they all got out of this mess, they have to find the dragon balls quick and restore all the damage that had occurred ever since those two idiot saiyans came and destroyed East City (sadly, it's still under construction). They also HAD to revive Videl. Bardock feared his grandson might go become mad soon, at this rate.

He suddenly fell on his knees, feeling slightly woozy. The saiyan warrior felt drained, like he had just trained nonstop for many days and had not taken any breaks.

And… what happened to Gohan? He had never responded to his urgent message. All he heard was the crackle of static in Gohan's direction and his energy was spiking greatly. He must be fighting Cell, then…

Shit… The one person he depended on and needed the most was the one who would be missing. The earth rocked suddenly, nearly throwing him off balance. And that minor earthquake came from the direction of his grandson's ki.

Tick, tock. Thirteen minutes.

~DBZ~

"HAAAAAAAA!" Gohan screamed out, his hands outstretched in the standard Kamehameha pose. The bright blue beam clashed with the opposing beam from Cell.

Just like in the battle with Frieza, an event that happened several years ago replayed.

Yet… it was a stalemate. And this time, there was no Goku to help him.

No, I can't lose, he thought desperately as he felt himself become weakened. No…

Strange images flashed in his mind. He saw Videl, perfect and alive, standing before him with a cheeky smile.

"Oooh, Gohan, aren't you in a pinch?" she said while grinning widely. "If you kill Cell, then you could get the dragon balls and bring me back to life again!"

Another flashed through his mind, this time of his family. They were standing together. Goku had his arms wrapped around Chi-Chi, while Goten was hugging his father. They were all smiling, like Videl.

"C'mon, son, I know you could do it!" Goku encouraged, just like he would when he was alive.

"You're the best, big brother! You'll beat that Cell!" Goten cheered. Gohan saw that his mother had said nothing but just smiled at him.

The last image came in his head and made him most confused. Why wasn't he with his family? It was his grandfather, Bardock. He had his arms crossed with the same stoic expression he always wore. "Look, kid, if you fail this one, you might as well give up on fighting. It's just Cell! You've beat him once, do it again!"

That did it. He screamed again, pouring much more power in the wave. It pushed Cell's wave back until it fully engulfed him, and in one agonizing shriek he was completely obliterated.

Gohan dropped to his knees, his hands supporting him. He let out a sigh, then heard a voice coming through his scouter. "Gohan, Gohan! GOHAN!"

It was the voice of Bardock. There was a slightly desperate edge to it. The young demi-saiyan took a deep breath and answered, "Yes?"

"I need you to go around the entire planet to round up last survivors. The planet's going to blow in… less than ten minutes. Please don't ask any questions because we don't have time for this!"

Gohan froze. "What?"

"Please just do it, don't ask questions," Bardock begged again. "There is no time!"

"… Right… I'm on it."

~DBZ~

Learning how to do instant transmission really could help out on tight spots sometimes, like the current situation. Gohan was at the only location where there were Neko people around, save the spaceship where the rest had gathered. He saw many of the Neko clan people cowering in the dark corners of demolished buildings. Children were crying out for their parents, the adults were shaking dead bodies desperately.

It was truly a sight of despair. He was reminded of that strange girl blowing the ocarina all of a sudden. Yes, he definitely had to save them.

The pitiful people shrank back when they saw his arrival. Some even cried out to him to kill them. Others begged for mercy. His heart clenched.

Gohan quickly shed the battle armor. Underneath was the orange and blue gi his father sported daily. He took off the scouter and crushed it into pieces. The demi-saiyan was quite sure that he won't need it anymore. At least, he hoped so.

"Hey, it's alright, everyone. I mean no harm," he said softly. "I'm bringing you to a place of safety."

A small Neko girl stepped forward. Her hair was very unkempt and the white dress she wore was black with soot, along with several rips. She reached out hesitantly to him. Gohan took her hand and patted her on the head. "It'll all be fine," he said to her.

And very soon, the rest of them all formed around him.

In a flash, they disappeared.

Bardock sighed in relief when he saw Gohan finally arrive along with everyone else. His little internal (not to mention, extremely irritating) clock was ticking down, showing him that there was only five minutes left. "We better hurry. There's only five minutes left."

He felt fatigue again and nearly couldn't stand. What the heck was wrong with him?

"You should all go to your own ship," Vegeta Jr. advised. "Leave the Neko people to us. There are many spare spaces they could take up."

"Alright… so that's… solved… then…" Bardock mumbled, then fell forward and crashed onto the ground, completely unconscious. Something was flickering above his head, and it became permanent. It was a golden halo.

And in Gohan's mind, that didn't make much sense. He was alive! It is not possible for one to use any method to kill someone…

Wind blew past, and the saiyan warrior's body dissipated into nothingness like sand.

"Grand…pa?" Gohan said, bewildered.

~DBZ~

Bardock felt himself fall forward and black out, then woke up to see fluffy golden clouds and little blobs of white smoky things float past him, chattering. There were many red and blue ogres walking around, directing the blobs (which turns out to be spirits) here and there, barking out orders and keeping the line organized.

Up all the way in front sat the biggest red demon there, King Yemma. He wore a strict expression on his face as he stamped Hell onto one of the soul's paper, and a hole opened under it. The spirit fell through.

So, he mused, I'm dead again. But how? A random blue ogre went up and began pushing him forward.

"Oy! Hey, what are you doing!" he yelled out. And very soon, he found himself face to face with King Yemma.

Bardock crossed his arms and frowned. "What do you want?"

The ogre scowled. "Treat me with respect! I have the power to condemn you to Hell like I did last time."

The warrior shrugged in a nonchalant fashion. "Fine by me. I've been there once; I'm not scared of going in again. Eternal damnation doesn't frighten me at all."

"So you think," King Yemma retorted. "I pardoned you and only let you stay at level two. I'd like to see how you'd be if I sent you all the way down to the farther levels."

Bardock raised an eyebrow. "And that is called injustice. I've become a much better person than before."

"But I have to power!"

"You should be replaced, then, by someone else. People in your position shouldn't abuse their power."

"Like you know anything about that! Bardock, you were always a low class saiyan in the background, a little more than dirt!" King Yemma took out a sheet of paper with the saiyan's records clearly written on there.

That comment did slightly sting. The words were true, though. Third class saiyans were nothing more than the lowest of the low, always looked down upon. Bardock glared at the ogre. "My memory is fine, thank you very much. But my question remains though. Why the heck am I dead again?"

"Ahh…" King Yemma stroked his beard. "Your time is up. Wretimus only grants you life for one year."

"King Kai should've said so. I would've had prepared myself for this."

"Oh. So you do like living, don't you? No wonder you never decided to tell any of us that you escaped from Hell."

"I DID NOT escape! It was purely an accident!"

"Well, that's as good as escaping in my book!"

"Then blame yourself for letting me out."

"That's it!" King Yemma slammed his fist onto his table, shaking all the contents on top and spilling the cup of coffee. Some of the scalding hot liquid dropped onto an unfortunate demon beside him. He scurried away while whimpering. "I'm going to send you into the sixth level, you insolent little good-for-nothing saiyan! Let's see how you fare there!"

Bardock's face remained impassive. "I don't give a crap."

King Yemma scowled and glared at him. "I'm really going to do it." He lifted up the stamp marked Hell.

Bardock shrugged again.

"Alright then, you asked for it!" His hand lowered and was just about to stamp onto the saiyan's records, but something, or rather someone, crashed into his table.

"Whoooooo, that was one dizzy crash!" the newcomer said, rubbing the back of his head. He laughed. "I'm glad I came here in time! Nearly forgot I had Instant Transmission!"

In the distance, King Kai was jumping up and down in anger as his most prized student had just completely disregarded him.

"Well," he said, looking back and forth at King Yemma and Bardock, "I guess I should say… hi?"

Bardock was in shock. Never had he dreamed of meeting him face to face. "Ka… karot?"

And the one known as Kakarot/Goku grinned nervously and did a little wave. "Hey dad. Glad I finally get to meet you."

…

**Finish! That was nearly 2,000 words! ^0^ I have to add about the sixth level of hell. If you go back to the very first chapter in Not What it Seems, you'll see that in Asia, they say that Hell has a total of eighteen levels, each worse than the last. Another thing is that third class saiyans are indeed treated as the lowest of the low, as seen in Bardock: The Father of Goku. I'm talking about the original version, not the dub. There were many comments that heavily implied such. **

**And last thing… this time I'm actually asking for reviews. I want to know how many of you are actually reading this story and like it, so if you are, please review. I want to have an idea in my head of how many are still reading this so I could see about changing some things, maybe updating much slower than before, etc. Sorry, people who do not have accounts do not count. **

**~Son Goshen**


	4. Inner Conflicts

**Sailor, don't kill me for this. It was a freakin hectic month and I was pretty busy with TDS so you'll have to excuse me for this. :D To everyone else, here's the long-awaited update. **

There was a long and awkward silence. Father and son just stared at each other in wonder. That would've lasted for another long moment, but King Yemma decided to break it with a cough.

"Goku, what are you doing? Can't you see I'm busy?" he said.

Said saiyan shot him a bright smile. "That's exactly why I'm here! I don't wanna have my dad to be sent in Hell at such a deep level. He's too nice of a guy." And then, Goku slung one arm around Bardock's shoulder and pulled him close to him, smile ever unwavering.

As for Bardock… he still had his usual stoic expression on his face and his posture was as stiff as a statue.

"Wait, Bardock is your-" King Yemma flipped around his records for a moment then looked back at the duo. "Right, how could I forget? Especially with that uncanny resemblance."

Goku beamed. "Well then, the two of us will be off! Have a nice day!" With that, he placed two fingers onto his forehead and they disappeared.

"Goku you can't just-" But they were already gone. King Yemma slapped his forehead. "That man…"

Meanwhile on the Grand Kai's planet, Goku and Bardock reappeared. The older saiyan lost his footing from the sudden arrival and nearly fell face flat on the ground if it weren't for his fast reflexes. His arms shot out to catch himself just before the fall, then flipped forward so he landed on his feet.

"What was that all for?" Bardock demanded. He hadn't meant to sound rude or annoyed, but it was all so surprising. Goku flinched visibly from his sharp tone, and the father immediately regretted the way he said.

"I just… saw that… King Yemma was going to send you to Hell… so I thought…" he swallowed, sounding rather nervous.

The saiyan warrior's tone softened. "I didn't mean to come off as rude, just was wondering."

"Ahhh… okay then." Goku's expression brightened quickly. He stretched his arms out like giving a hug and said, "Welcome to the Grand Kai's planet! This is where all the best warriors come if they're worthy enough. They'll continue to train even in the afterlife."

On the cue, a blue-faced figure rushed to them. He had a very angry expression on his face and pointed a finger at Goku. "Don't run off like that again," he scolded.

The Earth raised saiyan scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, King Kai. But-" he pointed at his father.

The North Kai's eyes widened. "Oooooohhh… helllooooo Bardock! You're those strong, silent people, aren't you? Ehehehehe." He began to chuckle at his own joke.

Ummmm… Bardock blinked. What? What was so funny about the fact that he didn't talk too much?

Goku leaned toward him and said in a loud whisper, "Don't worry, dad, King Kai always make nonsense jokes no one gets. You'll get used to it."

"Ummm… okay…?"

"What was that!" King Kai yelled out. "I heard you, Goku! I heard you I heard you!"

"Is it just me or is this place a little… whack?" Bardock mumbled to no one in particular. Now, what was he supposed to do? After a few minutes of watching the Kai chase his son around in circles, he got very bored and sat down, leaning against a ripe fruit tree.

He listened into the distant sounds of other warriors training on this planet and drank in the tranquility. Was this how the rest of his life, no afterlife, going to be? If only there was another place… with more adventure… He heaved a sigh. Of course not…

There happened to be an apple sitting right next to him. An evil idea popped into his mind and he took it into his hands, weighing it. Then with blinding accuracy, the saiyan threw it at his son.

It hit the target, and the poor apple exploded into pulp, which smeared all over Goku.

"Awww… dad, why did you have to do that?" he whined.

Bardock just laughed. "A good warrior would never let his guard down. If that had been some dangerous ki blast you would've gotten wounded quite badly."

Goku grinned and got into a fighting stance. "Oh really? You want a fight?"

The father jumped up and got into a defensive pose. "Why not? Bring it on." Smiles spread across both of their faces. It's in their blood to fight, and especially exciting, as they never fought each other before. It definitely made to the list of the weirdest reunions.

The fighting began… and was broken up several hours later by the Grand Kai for he feared that his planet wouldn't be able to take more damage.

~DBZ~

"Wait…" The Z fighters were preparing the inhabitants of Zorrei to go onto the saiyan ship. Yet, one saiyan that was part of Vegeta Jr.'s elites had piped up to state his opinion. "Why should we listen to that third-class saiyan?" he said. His nose was wrinkled together in disgust.

Jr. turned around to face him. "You want to defy my orders?"

He sniffed. "Not necessarily. My King, I personally think it's quite stupid. We don't even know if he's telling the truth."

Jr.'s eyes twitched in annoyance. "I trust him. Those are my orders. You follow them," he said in a clipped tone.

"Welllll…" the saiyan drawled, "I don't really have to, do I? I could just beat you and take the throne."

"WHAT?"

The elite smirked. "You have what, like, one-third of the people on your side? The rest are on mine."

"Says who?" Jr. shot back. Like magic, many of the saiyan survivors shimmered into view behind the elite with stoic expressions.

"The… hell?" Gohan muttered, very confused. He got into a fighting stance, knowing that there was a high possibility of a fight breaking out. Jr., apparently thinking of the same thing, did so as well, and the rest of the Z fighters followed their example.

And in a split second, a vicious fight broke out. There was no dragging of the fight, because they all knew there was no good in doing that. Gohan and Jr. immediately jumped into super saiyan two, not wasting any time to knock out all the saiyans that opposed their king.

The Z fighters held on their own pretty well, too.

Blows were exchanged, stray ki blasts flew all around, the entire place was chaotic. All the while there were only three minutes left before Kuriza will destroy the planet in a blink of an eye…

In the middle, Gohan suddenly stopped and his head snapped up. He looked at the night sky and silently counted in his head on how much time was left. "NO!" he yelled.

Everyone paused in their actions in what they were doing.

"Huh?"

"GET IN THE SHIP! GET IN THE SHIP THE PLANET'S GONNA BLOW!" he yelled out again. Guess who didn't move? The saiyans on that saiyan's side. All others quickly scrammed and got into the ship. Jr. and Gohan were left with them.

"Tarotto, are you sure?" one of the saiyans hesitantly asked. Tarotto did not respond, but simply shot a ki blast at the speaker and blasted him into bits of ash.

"Hey!" both Jr. and Gohan shouted out. They stared wide eyed at Tarotto's act of cruelty.

"How... how could you just kill him like that?" Jr. said in a dangerously low voice, glaring at the elite. His fists were balled together. "He was a loyal soldier."

"Not loyal at all if he questions me," Tarotto replied loftly, waving his hand in a casual manner.

Gohan shook his head in disdain. "Let's get rid of them quick. We have a minute left."

Jr. nodded in response. "Now… go!" he said, and both of them charged and attacked in perfect synchronization. The saiyans were all caught in surprise and were taken down quickly, falling like dominos, all except for the close group around Tarotto.

Suddenly Jr. took a step backwards and pulled Gohan with him.

~DBZ~

"Thank you for telling me this, Uncle," a purple and white alien spoke in a smooth voice. His eyes were hard as he stared from his spaceship onto the planet known as Zorrei. Another alien, who was the same species as him but green and white, smirked.

"Kuriza, I suggest you to act now," Cooler said. His nephew nodded and floated to the opening in his little hover chair. He followed.

The hatch opened with a hiss and they flew out, meeting the empty space.

Kuriza lifted his left hand up and held up his index finger. A ki blast slowly began to form… and it became the size of a large mansion much quicker than Frieza could ever do. With a tilt, the dangerous energy flew at a rapid speed toward Planet Zorrei without mercy.

It sank into the surface of the planet and disappeared. There was a second, then it exploded into millions of dust and debris. There was a bright flash of light that made all the watching soldiers cover their eyes, but Cooler and Kuriza looked on without any problem.

Kuriza was laughing madly, his hands wrapped around his abdomen. Cooler did nothing than smirk. Now, all the saiyan scum should be gone, he thought.

Or not… in the distance, a tiny speck of a ship from their distance sped away from the destruction, unknown to any onlookers.

~DBZ~

Jr. was on his knees, shocked at the destruction. All those brave and proud warriors of his race… were gone. "No…" he muttered, "this can't be happening…" The saiyans were decimated to a small number of seventy or more, and by the hands of Frieza's son.

Was this their fate to always be in the brutal family's grip?

Tarotto was a good warrior. He hadn't noticed that everyone else on the ship was behind him, and they were all on their knees with their heads bowed in prayer.

Jr. did the same and began saying, "God, or whoever that controls the fates of our people and all other creatures in this universe, hear my plea. Those were excellent and loyal people who had followed my family's command. I ask you to bless them, don't give them a horrible afterlife.

Please save their souls. Honor them, for they have done many great things for this place. Let them have a second chance. Wash away their sins and let them start anew. Hear my prayer. Hear all of our prayers. Amen."

"Amen…"

~DBZ~

It must've been a strange scene. Colorful paper flowers were floating absently where Planet Zorrei once was. Every one of them was folded with care and accuracy. They were done by people on the ship, to honor the lives lost…

**^.^ Hope you enjoyed it. Yeah, since there's only like… three people still reading, that's why the updates are starting to slow. :D But anyways, thanks for still following this. ^.^ I may be starting a rewrite of NWiS sometime soon, so… yep. Next update is Forbidden. :D**


	5. FPS Games

**Thanks for all the reviews. And it's been a month. I somehow lost the will to write this for a while… enjoy the chapter. ^^ This one is filler but with foreshadowing.**

And so, the long journey to defeat the so-called invincible empire of the Cold Family continues. But at the time been, they were all stuck in a little (okay, maybe not so little) spaceship belonging to the saiyans.

It was kind of strange for Gohan, because he'd walk into random Neko clan people and saiyans in the halls. And other times he'd bump into the other Z fighters. He was used to just living with the Z fighters for long term trips to save the universe, or a small empty house with only Goten and his mother. Wherever he looked, there were people.

He found himself missing two people much more than he had thought. Bardock and Videl. Maybe missing Videl wasn't that much of a surprise, but missing his grandfather was. They were only together for a measly few months, and yet the absence took a great impact on the demi-saiyan. It was somewhat comforting to always have an adult who was calm and collected. Bardock never panicked too much… like father like son, huh?

Gohan was currently sitting by his girlfriend's coffin, which he had released. It would take them two weeks to reach Earth, so in the meantime with all that free time, he used it to stare at her lifeless body. He wiped the glass cover lovingly, brushing off any bits of dust that found their way onto there. "Videl, this is going to sound really weird," he said out loud, "but you still look pretty even though you're kinda.. ummm… dead." He chuckled at himself, scratching the back of his head.

"But in all seriousness, don't worry okay?" he continued. "You'll be alive in like three weeks. I'll get the dragon balls as quick as I can, okay? I'll wish you back, and you won't remember what it's like to be in the Otherworld.

Hey speaking of the Otherworld… Have you seen dad, Videl? Have you? Or even Grandpa? Hmm, you've never met dad before. But wait, you're in Heaven, right? You have to be. I mean, you have your body _here,_ so you can't be at King Kai's, or wherever he is right now. But wait… are you strong enough to get his training anyways? Wait no, I mean like, of course you're strong enough. You can fly around and throw ki blasts. Videl, I think you're around the level of the third class saiyans.

Awww, now I'm starting ramble am I? Videl, I hope you don't find me annoying or boring now. Ugh, what am I doing? Talking to a dead body like this. _((sighs))_ You're probably laughing at me right now, aren't you?" Gohan looked up to the ceiling and if he tried hard, he could almost hear her laugh in her tomboyish way. "Well yeah, I think I'll finish up here. Videl, I love you and miss you, as always."

_PUFF~! _Gohan tossed the capsule again, and the coffin disappeared into the little piece of metal. He turned around when he heard the door knock.

"Come in," he called out to the unknown person. The door creaked open and the person stepped forward. It was Vegeta Jr. Gohan's eyes boggled out. What was he doing here? And he was wearing Earth casual clothes. Ummm…?

"You wanna play so first person shooter games?" Jr. asked. "I wanted to find someone to play Call of Duty with."

Gohan sweat dropped. "COD? You actually have that game?" He was becoming slowly excited. He barely played any games like that because Chi-Chi didn't like the idea of more violence (with guns and bombs! Oh, the horrors!) than Gohan already had, and she didn't want Goten's innocent mind to be clouded with these thoughts.

~DBZ~

Mirai walked happily by one of the many hallways. He just spent the last few hours sitting in the library of the saiyans, soaking in the galactic history, and everything about the saiyans. It was just so fascinating! To be honest, he thought that the wars and events were ten times as interesting as Earth's history.

To his surprise, Earth was barely mentioned. It was just thought as a planet inhabited by extremely primitive beings (NOT!) and not much of any importance. In truth, Earth was not so primitive as everyone thought, often carried the universe's worst enemies, and had many powerful people, AND it had a huge amount of valuable resources.

As he walked by a half opened door, he heard yells.

"GAH COVER ME! I'M OUT IN THE OPEN!" he heard someone scream.

"DON'T YELL AT ME I GOT ALL THESE PEOPLE ON ME RIGHT NOW!" another person yelled back. He recognized the voices as Gohan and Jr. What the heck are they doing? It sounded as if they were in a fierce fight.

"CAN'T YOU SEE THE BAZOOKA THERE? GET IT GET IT!"

"YOU GET IT YOURSELF! I'M VERY PREOCCUPIED AT THE MOMENT!"

The yelling continued, and Mirai's curiosity got the better of him. He poked his head in the doorway and nearly fell over. They were playing a first person shooter game, Call of Duty 4. Okay… he totally did not expect it to be something like that. Gohan and Jr.'s eyes were glued to the screen as their hands worked furiously on the controls, all the while yelling out in panic as they lost themselves in the game.

'_Now, what would Chi-Chi think if I told her that her precious son was playing a shooting game?' _he thought in amusement. There would be a lot of screaming, frying-pan-hitting, and fainting involved. Mirai grinned. And if he told anyone on the ship what the two were doing, they would think he went mad.

The saiyan king playing something like this… and Gohan getting so into it as well. Mirai laughed.

~DBZ~

A cold voice rang out in a dark room far away.. "I expect the five of you to defeat them. I will not tolerate loosing. Do not come back if you didn't complete the mission, none of you. And capture Son Gohan, _alive._"

Lightning flashed in the distance. It revealed five people kneeling to Kuriza.

**And done. XD I love Call of Duty myself, to be honest. Keep in tune for the next chapter! And as always, reviews are greatly appreciated. ^^ Peace~**


	6. Impossible

**There's no doubt I probably lost all of my followers for this delayed update. But oh well..**

Days just sped past, and ever since the Call of Duty incident, Gohan was wormed up in his room, talking to Videl. Again. He never got tired of it, and knew that it must've seemed crazy to be babbling about trivial events in the day to a corpse. But oh well, he could care less about what the others were thinking about him.

This particularly unhealthy habit began to worry the other Z fighters, as they were afraid he might start to become more or less insane. The trauma, they concluded, may possibly be affecting his brain, which would cause him to become crazy. Piccolo did not offer any comments or opinions about their conclusion.

The habit began to frustrate them all. They were going to land on Earth, and Gohan was _still _in his room. So…

All of the Z fighters marched in at once (even Vegeta and Piccolo) and dragged the poor demi-saiyan bodily away from the airtight coffin. He flailed around in panic and screamed out, "LEMME GO! LEMME GO!"

Of course, he was ignored. Who wouldn't ignore him when he's in that seemingly delirious state? So like a kitten, he was carried away by the collar of his shirt. Some passerby saiyans snickered at the sight, but quickly ran away with their tails between their legs (literally) as Gohan gave them a death glare.

And so, he was thrown unceremoniously onto the ground of the living room. "What was that for?" he yelled, annoyed.

"They think you've gone crazy. And I'd agree," Piccolo replied, arms crossed, leaning against the wall as always. His voice was cool and indifferent as he stared down at his former pupil in disappointment.

Gohan pouted childishly. "That's cruel, Mr. Piccolo."

Said green guy's eyebrows twitched when he heard him revive the old nickname. What's up with the 'mister', anyways? Next thing you know, the kid's going to start calling him Sir Piccolo.

…

And like always, the alarms blared out, scaring everyone in the ship.

"INCOMING SHIP. FOREIGN. COMPUTER DOES NOT RECOGNIZE." The main computer intoned in the monotonous voice it possessed. At that moment, Gohan had a really weird thought. He was glad it wasn't an ordinary ship filled with ordinary human passengers. In those circumstances, there'd be a huge load of screaming and chaos, and his ears would surely break under the pressure.

From Mirai's strangely relieved expression (which mirrored his), he could tell that the other demi-saiyan may or may not have the same kind of thoughts running through his head. The large screen in front of them crackled into life, and began projecting the image of the strange ship.

His blood ran cold.

Gohan had seen enough of that model, and had nightmares about the occupants of the ship. Frieza's. The Cold Empire's special ship.

Something bad's about to happen. And a face appeared on the screen abruptly, making them all jump in surprise.

The face they saw greatly resembled Frieza's. This creature had the same petrifying pink eyes, with an evil look among the depths. He seemed to be in the fourth stage of the Cold Family's transformation. Kuriza's thin lips were curled upwards in a smirk. Just like his father.

"Hello, my dear monkeys," he said, the words rolling off his mouth smoothly. He had the same silky and sophisticated voice, enunciating each word clearly. Just like his father.

Obviously, the word 'monkey' made the saiyans on the ship all yell out in indignation and say all kinds of obscenities. But who knows if Kuriza heard them or not…

"Now, you might be aware that you have been playing in my hands, as an intricate game for my personal amusement," he continued. Growls. Of course they knew. They tried to get out of it.

"But… I have sent out five of my most powerful warriors." Surprise.

"They will meet you at New Planet Namek. If you do not follow these commands…" There was that smirk again.

There was something up Kuriza's sleeve, for sure. Something ominous.

The screen was directed to Earth. They were still a large distance away from there, a few hours journey. But they could see it clearly through the screen. Gohan saw that Kuriza was sitting in a little father. Must be just as lazy as his father, he thought.

History repeats. Everyone knows.

And so, the evil one raised a finger and a small ki ball began forming. Gohan watched, paralyzed with fear. His grandfather recounted the time when he tried to stand up against Frieza.

The ki ball grew steadily larger.

With a tiny tilt, it fell off and flew at great speed toward Earth. The demi saiyan couldn't watch anymore. He squeezed his eyes shut.

He heard a large explosion. The term dirty fireworks flew into his mind.

The sound would be larger if he was there. He was glad he wasn't.

There was a loud screaming in the room. It belonged to Vegeta.

He didn't care.

Vegeta's power soared to the levels beyond the super saiyan.

There were crackles of electricity.

The room was in chaos.

He just didn't care.

And in his mind, he conjured up an image of his grandfather, young and strong, his face streaked with blood and armor cracked and broken beyond repair. The blood soaked headband tied around his forehead. One hand raised, a blue ki ball forming.

The background was the ruby planet of Vegeta. Frieza's soldiers were scattered around the atmosphere, not daring to attack the furious warrior.

"This could change everything," Bardock muttered like he was talking to himself, but it was directed to Frieza. "This planet's fate… my fate… Kakarot's fate…and yours… I'LL USE THIS TO CHANGE IT ALL!"

The Final Spirit Cannon soared toward Frieza. The tyrant began to laugh maniacally, and his own Supernova suddenly burst out into a huge size, swallowing up Bardock's attack.

And of course, that would be how his grandfather had died.

Now, Gohan felt like tearing up. Goten, his mother, Bulma, everyone… He screamed. Dende, Popo… the dragon balls are gone.

**That, my friends, is the end. :) I have something fantastic planned. This would span about 20 chapters, and now I'm really motivated to write this again. Thanks to Simgr101, as always, for helping me out. See ya!**


	7. Ginyu Force Replacement

**Well well, I'm back, dear readers! I won't blabber, just read the chapter. :)**

Wind blew. Grass rippled. Trees swayed. Tumbleweed tumbled past. Crows flew by while cawing awkwardly. Another gust of wind blew past, carrying a few leaves. In short, there was dead silence.

…

…

…

"What the hell are we suppose to do here?" Gohan yelled out in frustration. They arrived in New Namek and all the citizens had evacuated so they wouldn't be hurt or killed during the bloodshed (or at least they supposed it would be) that would occur soon.

And of course, he jinxed the place by saying that. There was a distant mooing sound.

…

…

…

"Excuse me?" Jr. said incredulously. Was that… a cow? But whatever that thing that made the mooing was, they never got around to find out because a) five bright objects suddenly appeared and illuminated the sky, then streaked downwards like shooting stars. There were many saiyans that shrieked in horror, apparently recognizing the strange emblem that emblazoned on the pods.

And now, reason B was that the pods had landed in the general direction of the mooing sound, so it would be safe to assume that the poor animal (if it is indeed an animal, that is) was squished to his/her miserable death.

"Poor cow," Gohan muttered under his breath, for he thought of that. Meanwhile, he heard many saiyans yelling how they were screwed. "Jr., why are they all freaking out over those pods? It's our enemy, right?"

"Well…" Jr. replied thoughtfully, "I have the right to believe that they are the elite and most powerful squad in the entire galaxy, under Kuriza's rule. They're called the Elementary Forces, or something."

"Ummm, what?" said the demi-saiyan. "Elementary... like elementary school? Beginner level?"

"Ehh.. I don't think they mean it like that. More like elementary as in elements. You know, fire, ice… They're kinda dumb if you ask me."

"Point made…"

Then as if on a cue, five people leapt out of the woods and appeared. They momentarily took Gohan off by surprise because of their appearance like they were doing some serious weird cosplay. That and the fact that they looked completely perfectly human. The first, what he presumed was leader, had bright neon yellow hair. It stuck up the way like Gohan's did. He wore those kind of metallic armor you'd expect off a _really _otaku guy who was trying to remake clothing from Final Fantasy, or something like that. There was a large thunderbolt shaped print on the left of his face like a scar. Even his eyes were yellow, hawk-like.

The second had flaming red hair tied in a ponytail that fell to her knees with the same kind of weird clothing, except it was rather revealing. The girl smirked as she knew there were many that were currently staring at her at the moment. Her eyes shone a bright red, like blood. Eek.

Now... the third interested Gohan greatly. She looked just like those down-to-earth kind of girl that you'd love, with dark hair and eyes. She was grinning, but not with a malicious feeling as her other comrades had. Her hair was done in one simple and messy braid, and she had the typical country girl clothing complete with overalls. Cinnamon freckles dotted across the bridge of her nose. The only thing that was strange were the two dirt lines drawn on each of her cheeks like one would do when attending a soccer match.

The second guy on their team stood a little away from the general norm. His hair was long, almost emo, but was spiked and formed so that it looked as if strong wind was blowing sideways, sweeping his bleached hair. All he wore was a pair of white pants, with a simple white mark on his chest, depicting wind. His eyes were gray…

The last person was another girl. She, like the girl in the overalls, seemed gentler. Her sea blue eyes darted around nervously, emotions changing swiftly, unpredictable as the ocean. Her wavy hair was blue like Bulma's (go figure) and just fell down to her waist. No other weird hairstyles. She had long baggy clothing that cascaded down like a river and complimented her slim figure.

"So you are the enemies, huh?" the leader said brusquely. Blunt much? He continued, "Well, to be polite and to show that I have manners, my name is Lightning. This girl here-" he pointed to the red-haired girl, "is Flame. The dude chillin' right there is Wind, and you got this one, Gaea, and lastly, the nervous one, Sea. Got it? Good."

"Ummm…" Gohan mumbled, "Hi?"

"Hello!" Vegeta Jr. squeaked as well.

So they all just stood there while cold wind blew past.

…

…

…

"Hey…" Sea began, "aren't we suppose to start fighting or something? That's what Kuriza told us, right?"

…

There was another long silence.

"A no… Uhhhh… hello?" No one responded.

Suddenly, Krillin broke the silence by asking a strange question. "Why are you people called the Elementary Forces?"

Wind rolled his eyes. "We're representing the five elements, aren't we? Thunder, fire, earth, air, and water. We're even freaking NAMED after them, as you could see. And we could control 'em just like a boss." He struck a pose, smirking.

"And we're not the Elementary Forces, actually!" Flame chimed in. "We were just going by Element, but noooooo, Kuriza _insisted _we added the "forces" part, and then some idiot accidentally changed it to elementary. Like, what the heck?"

Clearly, Flame came off as the showy and girly type of girl. Then, she gasped. "OH MY GOD! We haven't done _**it **_ yet!"

Whatever the it was, it had a strange effect on the team. Sea blushed in embarrassment while Wind slapped his forehead with his palm. But no matter, they all got into a line.

"We are the…" they chanted together, "ELEMENTARY FORCE!" Then each struck an amusing and ridiculous pose enough to rival that of the Ginyu Force.

Jr.'s eyebrow twitched. "I believe we have just found a Ginyu Force replacement," he muttered in undertone. Gohan nodded in agreement.

**Finish! What could I say… life got into the way, like getting pretty sick… and midterms… and an overload of projects. ^_^ Yep! But whatever, I'm done with it all. :D Hope you enjoyed the chapter!**


	8. Commence

"Alright, one more time!" Flame cheered.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, FLAME! Enough, I had enough!" Wind yelled. "No more, no more!"

"All in favor of one more time?" Lightning cut into their argument. Only he and Flame raised their hand.

…

"Ahem…" Gohan decided to finally disrupt them. Really, it was rather hard to endure two long hours of weird poses. He was just… tired of the entire ordeal. The force acted like a bunch of silly high school kids who fooled around a lot.

"Oh hello!" Gaea turned to them with a pleasant smile.

"Ummmm… so…" the demi-saiyan said, "are we going to fight or not?"

Sea shrieked and covered her mouth in horror. "Oh my gosh! We forgot!"

Their opponents fell over anime-style, rendered speechless by their behavior. There was a great thud as they all ended up on the floor in disbelief. The mighty Elementary Force was like this? So much of the worrying they had, all for nothing. Gohan, though, always been the polite one, kept his gentlemen stance. That is to say, he was the only one that was still standing up. He rubbed his head and laughed nervously. "Can we begin then?" The entire situation was getting awkward because they were supposed to be great enemies. However, Gohan just didn't want to fight them that much. They seemed so much like the everyday-ordinary kids…

"Wait, I got a question first!" he yelled. They were just about to turn and huddle into a circle, which he presumed would take a lot of time (AGAIN!).

The squad turned to him. "Yes?" Lightning asked.

"What are you guys? Like, what planet? What race?" Weird question? Definitely.

Gaea cleared her throat and placed her hands behind her back, stepping forward like one would when delivering a long speech. "A long time ago," she began, "there was a planet in the north quadrant of the universe. There lived people who had extraordinary abilities. Everyone was born with something mystical, something unique. Some people could transform into animals, or make things levitate. Some people, the more powerful ones, could lift up huge stones hundreds of times their size and weight.

This planet was named Ariah. The people lived peacefully, until one day came a powerful alien. He was called Kuriza, and he formed a treaty with the leader. Every century, Ariah would deliver her five strongest people for his army. The treaty was still young, and Kuriza gave them time to seek out the most powerful ones. Coincidentally, five kids were born. They had powers unlike others, so much more potent than any others. They had the power to control the five elements of the universe, fire, water, air, earth, and thunder. The five kids were named after their corresponding elements.

So, they grew up together, until they were 16, in which they were sent to the army to work…"

She finished with a happy grin on her face. Dead silence met her. It didn't take much brains to figure out that the five kids in the story were referring to the five of them.

Gohan first felt sympathy for them. How were they treated? Did they even like their position? Do they hate their families for sending them into this brutal world? Then he felt a cold chill running down his spine when he realized the extent of their powers. The five of them combined could control this planet to their will and liking. They could do whatever they want, and Gohan and the others would be ragdolls, tossed around.

"Okay…" he replied slowly, "So, who's going to fight now?"

The five turned back to their circle. They all placed their right hands in front of their chest, chanting, "Hei… bai… Pei!" They stretched their arms towards the middle. Some had their palms up, while others had palms down.

"Who's got up?" Lightning asked excitedly. It was just him and Wind. "Alright, now rock paper and scissors!"

The other male grimaced. "I pass. You could have the first battle."

The controller of thunder pouted comically. "Fine." He turned to Gohan. "So, let's get started, shall we?"

The demi-saiyan said nothing, just nodded solemnly and got into the Turtle fighting stance. Lightning crossed his arms and tilted his head to the left, observing his cool demeanor. He had a large smirk on his face.

"THUNDER, I CALL THEE!" he yelled, raising his left arm toward the sky, hand formed into a fist. The groups watched in awe as dark storm clouds began to gather swiftly, churning. They shifted and twisted, forming one gigantic thunderhead. There was a flash, and thunder boomed. The entire sky was covered, turned to night. Then all of a sudden, there was a bright flare that appeared around Lightning. His shining golden aura lit up the area, much like super saiyan. His entire body buzzed with electricity, random sparks leaping off and sizzling grasses.

"Whoa…" Gohan heard someone mutter behind him. He couldn't identify the voice, because he was simply too busy concentrating on what was in front of him.

Lightning smirked. He held his arms out. "This, my friend, is how my power is used."

Gohan ignored him. He squeezed his eyes shut, taking a long, deep breath. _Alright… let's do this… _

_*Flashback Sequence*_

_He was in the Hyperbolic Chamber. _

"_Don't you get it? C'mon! Concentrate, Gohan! Concentrate!" Bardock snapped, yelling at his grandson. _

"_Can't you see I'm trying?" Gohan screamed back at him. His power was at its limits. He just simply can't reach out to the second level… not just yet. _

"_No, I can't," the cursed warrior replied sarcastically, "I know you're trying, but it's not enough! Can't you see that if you don't master your power, you could _never _save Videl."_

_The demi-saiyan gritted his teeth. Of course, his grandfather just _had _to bring that up. _

_Bardock continued. "Kami knows the extent of Vegeta Jr.'s power. Look, you have to listen to me. This may be the only way. You have to unlock your power."_

"_I told you, it's not a good idea," Gohan shot back. "We've been over this already. YOU WEREN'T FREAKING THERE WHEN I TRANSFORMED! YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT THE MONSTER I BECAME!"_

_The warrior met his glare calmly. "You're right, I don't," he responded, "but I know the feeling. I've been there. Do you honestly think it was a piece of cake for me to master the power of just the first level of super saiyan? Do you know I even tried to _kill_ my own mate at a certain point? Not that she could die a second time, but that's not my point._

_The thing is, this hidden power of yours, you always utilize it when you're more or less mentally unstable. If this goes on, who knows what can happen. You might lose complete control over yourself and become berserk. That's why you have to first _reach _into it, then we'll go from there."_

_And from there, Bardock gave Gohan clear instructions, telling him of how he was to unlock those hidden reserves._

_*Flashback Sequence Ends*_

He could feel it now. That tiny spark beginning in the depths of his body, the tip of the iceberg of the massive reserves he had always possessed. He tapped into it, letting the warmth fill up his body. Nice and easy. And slowly. And like pouring water, he felt it flowing throughout his body as he opened up more. Let it flow… The heat increased. He was dimly aware of the massive hurricane-like aura that was beginning to form around him, or the flashing of his hair as it strained to stay permanently in its upright golden form.

Let it flow…

Now, he had reached the first super saiyan form. Did he notice? No.

It's not over. More.

And now there was lightning. His hair stood up straighter.

Let it flow…

His power peaked, becoming greater than he had ever achieved.

Keep your mind steady.

Then it all stopped. Gohan opened his now-emerald eyes and surveyed his audience. They were in shock, Lightning included.

And from the heavens (more specifically, Grand Kai's planet), his father and grandfather watched.

"He did it…"


End file.
